Reece Shearsmith podcast

In this podcast, Reece Shearsmith performs a previously un-seen League Of Gentlemen character. He also drops some hints about the new series of Inside No. 9.

This podcast is a horror special of Book Shambles, the show hosted by Robin Ince and Josie Long, recorded at Latitude Festival.

Shearsmith, appearing as a guest, performs a short extract of an un-seen League Of Gentlemen script written by Mark Gatiss. It features a character called Mick Horror, who is an author of horror books, but there's something a bit creepy about him as much as his writing. As the star explains in the podcast, the character "never really worked on the TV" so hasn't been seen before.

The podcast also features some clues as to the new series of Inside No. 9, which will be on BBC Two this autumn. He says that, even by his and co-writer Steve Pemberton's standards, "the third series is a very dark series."

Excitingly, he hints that one of the six new episodes is particularly special. "They're all great, but there's one particular one that plays with television." He describes the episode as an "armchair thriller", set in the 1970s, which guest stars Rula Lenska. What makes the episode notable is that is has been filmed using old methods. He says the footage has been shot "completely authentically on old cameras" (which required the production team to find retired cameramen who could work the equipment), and edited it in the studio itself. He teases: "There's not been a programme like it since 1981."

He also reveals in another of the episodes he plays a jogger who finds a shoe in the street, an act which ruins the character's life.

This episode of Book Shambles also features Rufus Hound as a guest, who reads The Outsider, a HP Lovecraft vampire story from 1921.

The horror special of the podcast was organised to promote Dead Funny: Encore, a second book featuring horror stories written by comedians. Shearsmith's offering focuses around a child who is blinded by dog mess.

More details on Series 3 of Inside No. 9